In Your Eyes
by hearttorn
Summary: The SVM gang in the 80s. Part funny, part serious story line. Lots of 80s references to keep it fun! You know me, though, it's rated M.


**I don't own 'em - I just move 'em back 20 yrs, give 'em Iroc Zs, and make 'em all human. I bow to the Maker, C.H.**

Sookie shook the AquaNet can, hoping to get the last tiny drops of the liquid cement out. Her bangs were teased high, but there was no guarantee that a strong wind wouldn't come along to take them down, and that _simply could not happen_. Her bangs, wings, and perm overall had to be fluffed, teased and picked to within an inch of its life. Luckily she kept a spare can hidden from her brother, who liked to use the highly flammable substance to torch random things. She would never understand boys.

She checked the mirror again - Cover Girl foundation with matching powder? _Check._ Blue eyeshadow, artfully applied up to her eyebrows? _Check._ Maybelline blusher, applied to look like she was flushed from running through a meadow? _Check._ All eight layers of mascara in Blackest Black? _Check._ Love My Lips lip gloss in the sexiest red she could find? _Check._ Love's Baby Soft perfume, spritzed to a giant cloud then walked through? _Check._

Her outfit was so boss! Her tightest Guess? jeans, matched with a short little cropped angora sweater with a deep V neck. Slouch socks in a perfect shade of blue to match the shirt (which matched her eyes, of course!), slid up to the top of her French-rolled zipper-legged jeans and tucked into her beloved Cole Haan loafers. It had taken an entire summer of waitressing to save up for this outfit, and it was her best. It was a "serious" outfit and as such only came out on serious occasions.

And tonight was definitely serious. Tonight she would show Bill Compton that she was no little girl! They'd been going together for six months and had rounded a few bases in the old dating-rating scale, but Bill wanted to make a run for home. And lately, he'd been getting pretty vocal about it, too. He was older than Sookie (two WHOLE years, a senior to her sophomore) and kept going on about how "men have needs." But Sookie just didn't feel ready yet. They'd had a wicked fight about it at Merlotte's last weekend and Bill, in a huff, told Sookie he might have to "entertain other offers" from more "mature women."

Sookie just knew that meant that skank ho, Lorena. She was Bill's age, but was actually a junior since she had been held back in kindergarten for not learning her colors - something about being fixated on the color red. Anyway, she'd been "fixated" on one Bill Compton for months and it just stuck in her craw that he dated a younger girl - especially one known to be a "good girl" like Sookie. Lately it seemed like every time Bill and Sookie argued, Lorena was there every time they turned around, as if to say to Bill, "See what you're missing?"

Sookie had put her head together with her best friend Tara to figure out what to do, and they had devised a plan to make Bill sorry he'd ever even thought about _looking_ at Lorena, and it involved one certain new guy in town.

.oOo.

Several hours later at Merlotte's, the local hangout...

Everyone had noticed the new guy in town - heck, it was hard to miss him, he was so tall. Well, that and his car. It was hard to miss a gold, metallic T-top Iroc-Z Camaro, especially in their small town. The thing was, no one really knew for sure what he looked like. His long blond hair was always hanging in his face. That alone was enough to make him stand out - 'hoods' were few and far between in their neck of the woods. Rumor had it he was somehow associated with Pam Ravenscroft, the local golden girl, but no one knew how. All they knew was that he showed up every weekend at Merlotte's and sat in the back booth, ordered a Coke Classic and occasionally took a swig from a flask he carried inside his denim jacket.

And this is where, heart pounding, Sookie found him. Staring at the tabletop, carving intricate drawings into it with a pocket knife, hair a blond curtain between them.

"What's your name?"

"What do you want, little girl?" said the blond head, without looking up.

"Well, for a start, I want to know your name," she said.

"Eric," he mumbled.

"Well, Eric I Don't Have a Last Name, I'm-"

"Sookie Stackhouse," he interjected.

"How'd you know that?" she asked, astonished.

I know everyone in this place," he replied. "That's Sam, the owner's son. Tara Thornton, your best friend. Jason, your brother. Lafayette Reynolds, the town queer kid, although he hides it by dressy as preppy as he can. Hoyt Fortenberry, your brother's best friend, out to escape his mama's clutches for the night. And that" - he pointed with his knife - "is Bill Compton," he spat.

"So how is it you know us and we don't know you?" she asked. "Wait - Lafayette's _gay_?"

"I'll answer your first question because the other isn't my story to tell - even though I just let the cat out of the bag there. One, no one notices the freak, or if they do, they don't take time to get to know them. Two, I try not to be noticed."

"Right, like the denim jacket with the patches and the long hair and the kickin' car you can hear from a block away," she retorted. "You blend _right_ in."

"Noticed her, did you?" A hint of a grin crept into his deep voice. "Well, she's made to be noticed."

"'_Her?'_ Your car's a girl?" Sookie rolled her eyes.

"Of course! A car as fine as that has to be a woman. Her name is Sophie-Anne, and she's the Queen of Louisiana." With that, his head finally snapped up, he tucked a lock of dirty blond hair behind his ear and Sookie caught a glimpse of vivid aqua blue eyes. One glimpse, and her plan to embarrass and retaliate against Bill went right out the window. She was hooked.

"This is kinda forward of me, but... you wanna dance?" she asked.

"Not right now, sugarplum fairy, but you wanna get outta here?" he answered without skipping a beat.

"Yeah," she answered breathlessly. He stood in and in one smooth motion, grabbed her hand and led her through the throng of people to the door and out into the cool Louisiana night.

**A/N So this started out as a one shot for a contest, but I just feel like it works better with chapters. I actually know where this one is going and have several already written, so yay me! Mega props to my beta sunshinelvr for constantly encouraging me, making me laugh, and sending me cool signs.**


End file.
